11
thAnnual Conference of the
Canadian Rural Health Research Society
Lévis, Quebec
October 25-27, 2012
http://crhrs-scrsr.usask.ca/levisqc2012/index.php
Canadian Rural Health Research Society Newsletter
Summer 2012 Volume 6, Issue 2NEWS
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2011-2012 CRHRS Board of Directors
Executive
Dana Edge, Chair
Queens’ University dana.edge@queensu.ca
Bonnie Jeffery, Vice- Chair
University of Regina bonnie.jeffery@uregina.ca
Shelley Kirychuk, Treasurer
CCHSA/University of Saskatchewan Shelley.kirychuk@usask.ca
Donna Rennie, Secretary
University of Saskatchewan donna.rennie@usask.ca Members at Large
Karen Bartlett
University of British Columbia kbartlet@interchange.ubc.ca
Juanita Bacsu
University of Saskatchewan juanita.bacsu@usask.ca
Stephen Bornstein
Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador - sbornste@mun.ca
Richard Fleet
Université Laval-CHAU Hôtel Dieu de
Lévis Chercheur - rfleet@video-tron.ca
Martha MacLeod
University of Northern British Columbia macleod@unbc.ca
Pertice Moffit
Aurora College
PMoffitt@auroracollege.nt.ca
Silvia Vilches
Simon Fraser University Silvia_Vilches@sfu.ca
Kyle Whitfield
University of Alberta kyle.whitfield@ualberta.ca
R
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PPROACHES:
RECHERCHE SUR LA SANTÉ EN RÉGIONS RURALES ET
ÉLOIGNÉES: APPROCHES CRÉATIVES
The 11th annual conference promises to be an exciting opportunity to explore the creative side of research. Not only will we be in beautiful Lévis, across the
St. Lawrence River from the historic city of Quebec, but the confer-ence will feature two very special guests.
The conference will be preceded by a knowledge translation workshop with Gaétan Morency, a member of the ex-ecutive forum of the Cirque du Soleil. The session will be geared toward people with all levels of knowledge/experience and with
a keen interest in creative ap-proaches to knowledge translation, and/
or “the art of messaging.”
Also, Mr. Morency will be the plenary speaker at the official opening on Friday morning. Saturday’s plenary will be opened by David Saint-Jacques, MD, Ph.D., who will “lift us up” by discussing his work as a physician with the Canadian Space Program, which has focused on practice in isolated situations. In addition, for student trainees, we are hosting a spe-cial session on “mentoring for success.” The board is also inviting society members and conference attendees to help us discuss new directions in communi-cating about rural health research.
I
n this issue
11th Annual Conference, Lévis, Quebec ... 1
The Nature of Nursing Practice in Rural and Remote Canada II ... 2
Notice to Member: Call for nominations to the board ... 2
The Use of Hospitalists in Small Rural Hospitals ... 3
2nd National Rural Research Workshop: Looking Forward to the future ... . 3 Current Events Update ...3
Alerts from the Rural Health Research Gateway ... 4
Additional Resources of Interest ... 5
Upcoming Conference/Meeetings ... 6
Publications, Reports, Articles, etc ... 7
2 • Summer 2012 Rural Health Research News
The Nature of Nursing Practice in Rural and
Remote Canada II
Between 2001 and 2005, The Nature of Nursing Practice in Rural and Remote Canada study was undertaken to examine and articulate the nature of registered nursing practice in rural and remote practice settings across the country. At that time, rural nursing was rarely included in national and provincial agendas, and there had been little systematic investigation of rural health, including the severe shortage of health care providers. The study broke new ground and charted the field.
Over the last decade, there have been many changes to the health system, includ-ing changes in professional roles (e.g., Nurse Practitioners), movement of nurses across the provinces and the transformation of systems of care. Furthermore, the health of rural and northern Canadians continues to be worse overall than in urban areas, and new challenges are coming with our aging population.
And so it is that ten years after the initiation of the study, it is evident that knowl-edge gaps are emerging. Health Human Resources (HHR) planning and the ac-cessibility, quality and sustainability of rural healthcare continue to be of concern nationally and provincially. There is a pressing need for research on nursing roles and practices within primary health care (PHC). It is timely to build on and update the 2001 study, and enhance the capacity for HHR planning, especially in relation to PHC in rural and remote communities, in a way that reflects national and provincial/territorial needs.
The Nature of Nursing Practice in Rural and Remote Canada II is a nation-wide study that will take place over four years (2012-2016). The study will examine nursing practice for the full family of nurses (i.e., Registered Nurses and Nurse Practitioners, Licenced Practical Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses) in rural and remote areas across Canada. The Project involves three main research activities: an analysis of 2003 and 2010 Nursing Database (NDB) data; a national survey of nurses in rural and remote areas across Canada; and, production and distribution of knowledge translation materials that report the findings of the NDB analysis and the survey.
The project is led by four researchers, Drs. Martha MacLeod, Judith Kulig, Norma Stewart and Roger Pitblado, with a research team of eleven co-research-ers and an advisory team of decision-makco-research-ers from all provinces and territories. Funding for this first phase of the study is provided by Health Canada.
For more information, contact the project coordinator: Jessica Place, 250-960-5836, place@unbc.ca
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Call for nominations
to the board
At the annual general meeting which will be held in Lévis, we will elect next year's board of directors. This year we anticipate 2-3 vacan-cies. Each term is one year, and involves committing to bimonthly meetings by teleconference. Some board members also serve on committees, such as the commu-nications or ad hoc nominations committee, and others help plan and organize the annual confer-ence. If you would like to join the board but won't be attending the AGM, you can still be considered by sending your nomination to the board, c/o the chair, Dana Edge at dana.edge@queensu.caWe welcome representation from across the country, new research-ers, including graduate students, and experienced members who contribute from diverse areas of research. Board members can represent both private and public research endeavours. Together we represent Canadian rural health research, responding to policy changes, disseminating infor-mation, and hosting an annual conference for policy makers, researchers and community based practitioners who are involved in rural health research. We hope to hear from you!
Summer 2012 • 3 Rural Health Research News
Current Events Update:
Rural and Cooperatives Secretariat Hit by Recent Federal Cuts
At the 2nd annual Rural Revitalization Workshop in Ottawa we learned that the Rural and Cooperatives Secretariat will lose most of its staff following the recent federal budget cuts. The RCS is responsible for Canada’s rural action plan, for continuing statistical monitor-ing of Canada’s cooperatives sector, for guidance and policy concerning coop-eratives, and for assisting other federal
departments with rural policy. Partners
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A new policy brief describes the results of a survey of small rural hospitals that use hospitalists (phy-sicians, physician assistants or nurse practitioners who assume responsi-bility for patient care during inpa-tient hospital stays).
Researchers found that:
• Hospitalist use by Critical Ac-cess Hospitals and other rural hospitals with fewer than 100 beds more than doubled be-tween 2005 and 2009.
• Rural hospitals are using hospi-talists for a variety of reasons, including covering call and reducing the workload for their medical staff, improving quality of care, allowing primary care patients to focus on outpatient care, and recruitment and reten-tion of primary care physicians. • The vast majority of surveyed
rural hospitals report that hospitalist use has had positive impacts on quality of care and recruitment and retention of primary care physicians. Assess-ments of the financial impacts of hospitalist use are more mixed, with half of surveyed hospitals reporting negative impacts or both negative and positive impacts.
Contact: Michelle Casey, MS Upper Midwest Rural Health
Research Center and the University of North Dakota
http://www.uppermidwestrhrc.org/pubs/
The Use of Hospitalists in Small
Rural Hospitals
In May 2012, the Canadian Cooperative Association (CCA), the Canadian Ru-ral Revitalization Foundation (CRRF) and the Canadian RuRu-ral Health Research Society (CRHRS) joined together to host the 2nd national Rural Research Workshop (RRW2012) “Policy and Research in Community Investment.” The event took place in Ottawa on May 24-25, 2012 and was well attended by rural community practitioners, academics, graduate students, policy makers, and other stakeholders interested in examining rural community investment. Innovative topics at the workshop ranged from governance, globalization, com-munity economic development, communication technologies, and rural health services. Dr. Lou Hammond Ketilson from the University of Saskatchewan launched the event with an informative keynote address on the social and eco-nomic investments of Canadian cooperatives in support of rural communities. Dr. William Reimer from Concordia University opened day two by providing a keynote summary of the workshop findings and highlighted the main themes and challenges in moving forward with regards to rural community revitaliza-tion.
The workshop provided an interactive setting for networking, collaborating and examining the complex relationship between policy and research in rural com-munity revitalization. Dr. Dana Edge, Chair of the CRHRS, provided insightful comments on a discussant panel and addressed recent policy changes, capacity building and virtual networks, and the need for community-based research to promote health in rural communities. An agenda building session concluded the workshop with a strong emphasis on looking forward to the future and building capacity to support policy and research in rural community invest-ment.
CRHRS Co-hosts 2
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National Rural Research Workshop:
Looking Forward to the Future
By Juanita Bascu
at the workshop were very con-cerned about what this might mean for both rural policy and the cooperatives sector, including the data collection which the Secretariat conducts. It also opens doubt about whether there will be another Rural Revitalization Work-shop, given that the Secretariat has very ably steered this meeting since Statistics Canada closed its rural division. See the Rural Ontario Institute’s open letter to the Minister at http://ruralontarioinsti- tute.ca/blog/post/Implications-of-the- Federal-Budget-and-The-Rural-and-Cooperatives-Secretariat.aspx.”
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Rural Health Research News 4 • Summer 2012
Title: Agricultural Migrant Workers and Their
Integra-tion in Canada
Abstract: Every year, 30,000 agricultural migrant
work-ers arrive in Canada as part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and the Low Skill Pilot Project. Al-though the TFWP is intended to address short-term labour demands, most of these workers return to the same communities year after year, sometimes for more than 25 years. As a result, growing numbers of migrant farm workers are permanently temporary.
Source: IRPP.
Title: Increasing The Resilience of BC’s Rural
Communi-ties to Natural Disturbances and Climate Change
Abstract: Rural forest-based communities are
especial-ly vulnerable to changes in natural disturbance regimes influenced by climate change because their economic, social, and cultural aspects of life are closely linked to the local environment and climate.
Source: BC Journal of Ecosystems and Management.
Title: Is telemonitoring an option against shortage of
physicians in rural regions?
Abstract: General practitioners (GP) in rural areas of
Germany are struggling to find successors for their pri-vate practices. Telemonitoring at home offers an option to support remaining GPs and specialists in ambula-tory care.
Source: BMC Health Services Research.
Title:Second homes, amenity migration and rural
exclu-sion in Washington State
Abstract: Our research explores second-home owners
as contributors to processes of amenity migration. (...) second-home owners’ desire for privacy and escape is reflected in patterns of spatial isolation among second homes in the study area. These patterns have
poten-tially significant ecological effects.
Source: Landscape and Urban Planning.
Title: Rural Wealth Creation, Concepts, Strategies, and
Measures
Abstract: This report presents a conceptual framework
for rural wealth creation, drawing upon the U.S. and international development literature. The framework emphasizes the importance of multiple types of assets (physical, financial, human, intellectual, natural, so-cial, political, and cultural capital) and the economic, institutional, and policy context in which rural wealth strategies are devised.
Source: ERS/USDA.
Title: What's on Your Plate? The Hidden Costs of
Indus-trial Animal Agriculture in Canada
Abstract: WSPA has released a report that discusses
the impacts of intensive livestock operations (ILO) on health, the environment, animal welfare and rural Canada.
Source: WSPA.
Title:Scoping a Vision for the Future for Rural and
Re-gional Australia
Abstract: For the past 6 months NIRRA has been
un-dertaking a scoping projection Visioning the Future of Rural and Regional Australia. A discussion paper has now been completed, which provides a broad overview of many of the issues relating to, and the concerns fac-ing, rural and regional Australia."
Source: National Institute for Rural & Regional Austra-lia.
Title: Rural Parliaments in Europe
Abstract: In October 2011, researchers at SAC were
asked by the Scottish Government to carry out a study of existing Rural Parliaments in Europe. The aim of
Alerts from the Rural Health Research Gateway
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the study was to ‘enhance understanding of how and why Rural Parliaments operate, and the outcomes they generate, through examining international examples’. Source: SAC Rural Policy Centre.
Title: Close to the land: Connecting northern
Indige-nous communities and southern farming communities through food sovereignty
Abstract: Southern rural farming communities and
northern Indigenous communities in the Prairie Provinces of Canada each experience the Globalized Agri-Food System (GAFS) as detrimental to their food sovereignty."
Source: University of Manitoba.
Title: Perspectives of Northern Researchers, Residents
and Educators on Science Education and Outreach in Yukon
Abstract: International Polar Year 2007-2008 renewed
interest in and funding for circumpolar research. One unique element of this International Polar Year was the focus on education and outreach initiatives. This study explores outreach stakeholders’ perspectives on conducting science outreach with northern Canadian schools."
Source: Dalhousie University.
Title: Nurses to Promote Rural Women’s Health: A
Pilot Study.
Abstract: In this ongoing research, 70 policy
docu-ments are being analyzed, and 20 public health nurses and 14 managers in 3 health units in southwest On-tario are being interviewed to address the following research objectives: 1) Analyse policy documents relevant to rural public health nursing in Ontario to determine relevance regarding rural women’s health 2) Identify organizational attributes that enable or impede the work of public health nurses to improve rural women’s health, and 3) Critically examine public
health nurses’ roles and practices that will improve rural women’s health.
Source: Leipert, B., Regan, S., & Plunkett, R. Policies and Practices of Rural Public Health
Title: Experiences of families living in rural and remote
BC with a child with a disability or developmental delay
Abstract: The primary purpose of this study was to
gain a deeper understanding and describe the unique experience of raising a child with a disability or de-velopmental delay when the family lives in a rural or remote community, from the perspective of the parent.
Source: University of British Columbia.
Additional Resources of Interest
• Informing Rural Primary Care Workforce Policy: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?: A Review of Ru-ral Health Research Center Literature, 2000-2010. Duluth, Minnesota: Rural Health Research and Policy Centers.
• http://www.ruralcenter.org/minnesota-web- recruitment/resources/informing-rural-primary-care-workforce-policy-what-does-evidence
• For additional services and information, see the Rural Health Research Gateway web site at http:// www.ruralhealthresearch.org/.
• To subscribe to the Rural Health Research Alerts - http://www.ruralhealthresearch.org/alerts/
to lifetime employability in rural areas
• Diversification - broadening the local economy
• Strong rural markets - improving the competitive-ness of rural economies
• Innovation - exploring new rural governance mod-els
• Innovation systems and processes - enhancing the links between producers and end users
• Identifying mechanisms to support innovation in rural areas
http://www.mountaintrip.eu/archive/oecd-8th-rural- development-conference-3-5-october-2012-kras-noyarsk-russia-mt.html
Quebec International Summit of Coopera-tives “The Amazing Power of CooperaCoopera-tives”
Quebec City, Canada, October 8-11, 2012
During the United Nations’ International Year of Coop-eratives, decision-makers and influential figures from the international cooperative and mutualist community will be meeting in Quebec City, Canada, to participate in the 2012 International Summit of Cooperatives. The Summit’s theme is “The Amazing Power of Coop-eratives” and its mission is to offer solutions that will promote the development and performance of coopera-tives and mutuals so that they are better prepared to meet the economic and financial challenges they face. The 2012 International Summit of Cooperatives will be a milestone event for current and future leaders com-mitted to consolidating the influence of the cooperative and mutualist movement on the global economic and political stage.
http://www.2012intlsummit.coop/site/home
Regional Realities and Approaches
Olds, Alberta, October 11-13, 2012
This is a must-attend conference held in partnership with Olds College and the Canadian Rural Revitaliza-tion FoundaRevitaliza-tion. Regions. What are they? Do they mat-ter? How do they affect rural communities in Alberta and across Canada?
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Rural Health Research News 6 • Summer 2012
Rural Linkages: Intercollaborative Practice for Safe & Healthy Communities
Sponsored the Alberta Rural Development Network and Athabasca University, September 28, 2012, Edmonton, Alberta
Rural Professional Practice: Linkages between Human Services Disciplines. A one day facilitated conference for Albertan rural human services personnel funded by the Alberta Rural Development Network and facilitated by JL Malone& P Jerry of Athabasca.
http://www.athabascau.ca/rurallinkages2012/details/
Developing Connections for Sustainable Futures – Networking the Bush
University of Southern Queensland, Australia, Septem-ber 26-28, 2012
The 28th SPERA national conference will be a key means of building and strengthening Australia’s rural network and in doing so draws together an increasing body of work focussed on improved education out-comes in the bush. SPERA, the Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia, is Australia’s leading professional development or learning organisation and advocate for rural education. Call for abstracts is closed. http://www.spera.asn.au/articles.php?req=read&article_ id=169
Innovation and Modernising the Rural Economy - OECD 8th Rural Development Policy Conference
Krasnoyarsk, Russia, October 3-5, 2012
This year the conference will focus on two themes: In-novation in the context of rural areas and Mordernising the rural economy. Within these two policy streams several topics will be discussed, including:
• Skill building - moving from lifetime employment
Upcoming Conferences/ Meetings
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With the theme “Regional Realities and Approaches” guiding the Creating Rural Connections 2012 Confer-ence and Tradeshow, these and other questions will be explored through keynote speakers, presentations and posters, workshops and discussions, and panel sessions. Held from October 11 to 13, 2012 at Olds College in Olds, Alberta, the Alberta Rural Development Network is hosting this national conference in partnership with the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation and Olds College.
http://www.ardn.ca/
Rural Medicine Australia 2012 – Demon-strating the Diversity
Fremantle, Western Australia, October 26-28, 2012 Conference and Scientific Forum: This is the peak an-nual national conference for rural doctors and other professionals working in rural and remote communities. Rural Medicine Australia 2012 will include the bien-nial scientific forum on rural and remote medicine. The program will feature research presentations in a variety streams, discussion forms, workshops, and skills updates. You can read the preliminary outline on the Program page. The three day conference will be pre-ceded by one-day and two-day procedural workshops accredited for continuing professional development. http://www.acrrm.com.au/
Publications, Reports, Articles, etc.
The following publications and notices are provided to the newsletter committee from our CRHRSC members.
Leipert, B., Regan, S., & Plunkett, R. Policies and Practices Relevant to Rural Public Health Nurses to Promote Rural Women’s Health. Presentation at the 6th National Community Health Nurses Conference, Toronto, Ontario, May 14-16, 2012.
Leipert, B., Regan, S., & Plunkett, R. Working Through and Around: Policies and Practices Relevant to Ru-ral Public Health Nurses to Promote RuRu-ral Women’s
Health. Presentation at the Second National Rural Re-search Workshop “Policy and ReRe-search in Community Investment”, Ottawa, Ontario, May 24-25, 2012.
Malone, J.L. (2012). Ethical professional practice: Multigenerational trauma in a rural Aboriginal com-munity. Rural and Remote Health, 12(1), 1891. Malone, J.L. (2011). Professional practice out of the urban context: Defining Canadian Rural Psychology. Canadian Psychology, 52(4), 289-295.
Malone, J.L., & Dyck, K.G. (2011). Professional ethics in rural and northern Canadian psychology. Canadian Psychology, 52(3), 206-214
contact us / submissions
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Publisher ... Editor... Committee Members .... CCHSA, University of Saskatchewan Kyle Whitfield Silvia Vilches Kyle Whitfield Cheryl Zawaduk
Please forward submissions to:
Kylie Whitfield: kyle.whitfield@ualberta.ca or Silvia Vilches: Silvia_Vilches@sfu.ca